Mark McGhee has no concerns about a potentially hostile reception when Motherwell face Hearts after his dramatic U-turn last month.The former Wolves manager was on the steps of a Lithuania-bound plane heading for talks with Hearts majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov about the vacant manager's job when he turned back to agree an improved contract at Fir Park.

The two clubs are now set to clash on the opening day of the new season at Tynecastle on August 9.

"I don't know what that's got to do with anything," McGhee said.

"By then Hearts will have a new manager and they will be looking forward to the new season."

Motherwell could not have been given a tougher start - after the Tynecastle trip, they play the five teams who joined them in the top six last season.

McGhee said: "Last season we had a run of games that looked as if it gave us a chance, against the less fancied teams if you like. This season it's the reverse, it's a really difficult start.

"At the moment I'm looking at the Hearts game, they beat us at home twice last season, so it's a really hard game to start with.

"One thing I did do when I considered the Hearts job was have a right good look at Hearts. They have a really strong squad and they will strengthen this summer.

"I said it a few weeks ago, if we finish above Hearts next season then we will finish third."

Aberdeen also ended the season strongly when they killed off Rangers' title hopes with a 2-0 win at Pittodrie in their final game.

However, it was a turbulent campaign for the Dons and skipper Scott Severin is hoping for more consistency this time around.

"It was a bit of a split last season," he told RedTV.

"We had four or five really difficult games and then we played against teams who were in the bottom six.

"We struggled for four or five weeks of the season and then picked up maximum points for four or five games.

"It was just the way the fixtures were scheduled so with it being a bit different this season, hopefully we can get a bit more consistency over the whole season."

Severin is also aiming for a better campaign personally as he prepares to wear the captain's armband for a second year.

He added: "There were times [last season] when I was enjoying being captain and there were times when I wasn't.

"This will be my second season as captain and hopefully I've learned a few things from last season.

"Hopefully, performance-wise I'll be more consistent and not have too many poor games."

The Dons begin with a home game against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on August 9.

"We know what these games are all about," said Severin.

"They are always hard games and, with us having the better of them over the last few seasons, we will be hoping to get off to a good start and get the victory.

"Hopefully we will have a big support and we can kick on from where we left off at the end of last season."

More Football News from TEAMtalk